Big Thinking Around a Small Box

Posted by Katy Lee on November 30, 2011

When we asked designer Henrik Preutz to design a really good floor lamp, one of the conditions was that it would need a re­ally low price. Good quality at a low price doesn’t come automatically. It requires that every phase in the process is carefully thought-out, which especially challenged Henrik to make as little a package as pos­sible. The smaller the package, the more packages can be loaded into every lorry, which lowers costs and the price tag.

That’s when the music stand idea came to Henrik’s mind. A music stand is the same height as a floor lamp, but it can also be made very small and compact. Could we use the smart construction of the music stand as a lamp base and simply put a shade on top?

Well, we almost could, at least. After a diverse barrage of tests for stability, durability, etc., TROGSTA began to take form. We kept the height adjustability of the music stand, but redesigned the foot to make it both slimmer and more sta­ble. Then we painted it black, mostly for aesthetic appeal, and made sure it passed tests for non-tipping.

“We always work together at IKEA. And this lamp was a true team effort from the start. Henrik, the designer had a great idea and Anders, the Packaging technician came with valuable sizing input already in the sketching phase. I think designing our Breath Taking Items, really spurs people to do their very best. It is a challenge to create great products at the lowest price possible without sacrificing design and quality.” says James Futcher, Product developer IKEA of Sweden.

All that remained was the shade. By using a plastic that can be rolled without cracking, we were able to simply roll up the shade, pack it in the box and ask our customers to roll it out and snap it into a big, lovely lampshade.Thanks to this, a lamp that is 142 cm high could fit in a package that is 44 cm high. And it goes without saying that when we can load 280 floor lamps on a pallet instead of the usual 45, it makes a big dif­ference to the environment as well as your wallet.

“But in the end; TROGSTA is a floor lamp that gives a nice, warm and diffused light to light up the many peoples homes.” James concludes.

“We always work together at IKEA. And this lamp was a true team effort from the start. Henrik, the designer had a great idea and Anders, the Packaging technician came with valuable sizing input already in the sketching phase. I think designing our Breath Taking Items, really spurs people to do their very best. It is a challenge to create great products at the lowest price possible without sacrificing design and quality.” says James Futcher, Product developer IKEA of Sweden.

All that remained was the shade. By using a plastic that can be rolled without cracking, we were able to simply roll up the shade, pack it in the box and ask our customers to roll it out and snap it into a big, lovely lampshade.

Thanks to this, a lamp that is 142 cm high could fit in a package that is 44 cm high. And it goes without saying that when we can load 280 floor lamps on a pallet instead of the usual 45, it makes a big dif­ference to the environment as well as your wallet.

“But in the end; TROGSTA is a floor lamp that gives a nice, warm and diffused light to light up the many peoples homes.” James concludes.